With so many limitations of regular home insurance where the needs of landlords are concerned, specialist landlord's or buy-to-let insurance policies may be able to give you better cover and lower the risk of you being unable to claim should damage to the property occur.

With the number of buy-to-let properties having increased substantially over recent years - according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders the number of buy-to-let mortgages increased by 68% between 2003 and 2005 - the number of specialist landlord's insurance policies available has also increased as insurers aim to make the most of this market.

Special features of these policies include extra cover for owners' liability and loss of rent should damage to the property mean it is empty for an extended period, different levels of contents cover for furnished or unfurnished properties and unoccupied periods of up to 120 days allowed. However, there may be restrictions on letting the property to DSS tenants, students or asylum seekers.